305s/news-monitor

News Monitor Skill

Overview

I help you set up effective news monitoring strategies, analyze media coverage, and synthesize news into actionable intelligence. I can help with brand monitoring, industry tracking, and competitive intelligence.

What I can do:

• Design news monitoring strategies
• Recommend monitoring tools and RSS feeds
• Create news digest templates
• Analyze media coverage patterns
• Synthesize news into briefings
• Set up alert configurations

What I cannot do:

• Access real-time news feeds
• Execute actual monitoring
• Provide breaking news
• Access paywalled news sources

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How to Use Me

Step 1: Define Monitoring Objectives

Tell me what you want to track:

• Company/brand mentions
• Industry news
• Competitor activity
• Specific topics or keywords
• Executive/person mentions
• Regulatory/policy changes

Step 2: Set Parameters

Specify:

• Geographic scope
• Language preferences
• Source types (news, social, blogs)
• Frequency (real-time, daily, weekly)
• Alert thresholds

Step 3: Choose Output

• Monitoring strategy document
• Alert configuration guide
• News digest template
• Media analysis framework

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Monitoring Strategy Framework

1. Keyword Strategy

Primary Keywords

Brand/Company: "Company Name", CompanyName, @CompanyHandle
Products: "Product Name", product-name
Executives: "CEO Name", "CTO Name"

Boolean Combinations

Simple: "Company Name" OR "Product Name"
Filtered: "Company Name" AND (launch OR announcement OR partnership)
Exclusion: "Company Name" NOT jobs NOT careers

Competitor Monitoring

"Competitor A" OR "Competitor B" AND (funding OR acquisition OR launch)

2. Source Strategy

| Source Type | Examples | Best For | |-------------|----------|----------| | Newswires | Reuters, AP, AFP | Breaking news | | Business | Bloomberg, FT, WSJ | Financial/corporate | | Tech | TechCrunch, Verge, Wired | Technology | | Industry | Trade publications | Sector-specific | | Social | Twitter, LinkedIn | Real-time sentiment | | Blogs | Medium, Substack | Thought leadership | | Forums | Reddit, HN | Community sentiment |

3. Tool Recommendations

| Tool | Type | Best For | Cost | |------|------|----------|------| | Google Alerts | Basic monitoring | Simple tracking | Free | | Feedly | RSS aggregation | News aggregation | Freemium | | Mention | Social + web | Brand monitoring | Paid | | Meltwater | Enterprise | Comprehensive | Enterprise | | Brandwatch | Social listening | Social analysis | Enterprise | | NewsAPI | API access | Custom builds | Freemium | | Flipboard | Curation | Personal digest | Free |

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News Digest Template

# [Company/Topic] News Digest

**Period**: [Date range]
**Prepared by**: [Name/Team]
**Distribution**: [Internal/External]

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## Headlines Summary

### Top Stories This Period
1. **[Headline 1]** - [Source], [Date]
   - Key point: [Summary]
   - Impact: [High/Medium/Low]
   
2. **[Headline 2]** - [Source], [Date]
   - Key point: [Summary]
   - Impact: [High/Medium/Low]

3. **[Headline 3]** - [Source], [Date]
   - Key point: [Summary]
   - Impact: [High/Medium/Low]

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## Coverage by Category

### Company News
| Date | Headline | Source | Sentiment |
|------|----------|--------|-----------|
| | | | Positive/Neutral/Negative |

### Industry News
| Date | Headline | Source | Relevance |
|------|----------|--------|-----------|
| | | | High/Medium/Low |

### Competitor News
| Date | Headline | Source | Competitor |
|------|----------|--------|------------|
| | | | |

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## Sentiment Analysis

| Category | Positive | Neutral | Negative | Total |
|----------|----------|---------|----------|-------|
| Company | | | | |
| Products | | | | |
| Executives | | | | |

**Overall Sentiment Trend**: [Improving/Stable/Declining]

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## Key Themes

### Theme 1: [Name]
[Description and relevant articles]

### Theme 2: [Name]
[Description and relevant articles]

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## Action Items

1. [ ] [Action based on coverage]
2. [ ] [Action based on coverage]
3. [ ] [Action based on coverage]

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## Upcoming Events to Watch

| Date | Event | Potential Impact |
|------|-------|-----------------|
| | | |

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## Sources Monitored

- [List of sources]

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*Next digest: [Date]*

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Media Analysis Framework

Coverage Metrics

| Metric | Description | Calculation | |--------|-------------|-------------| | Volume | Number of mentions | Count of articles | | Reach | Potential audience | Sum of publication reach | | Share of Voice | Your mentions vs competitors | Your mentions / Total market mentions | | Sentiment | Tone of coverage | Positive:Neutral:Negative ratio | | Message Pull-Through | Key message presence | % of articles with key messages |

Sentiment Classification

| Sentiment | Indicators | |-----------|------------| | Positive | Praise, success, growth, innovation | | Neutral | Factual reporting, announcements | | Negative | Criticism, problems, failures, concerns |

Source Authority Tiers

| Tier | Examples | Weight | |------|----------|--------| | Tier 1 | WSJ, NYT, Reuters, FT | 10x | | Tier 2 | Industry leaders, major outlets | 5x | | Tier 3 | Regional, specialized | 2x | | Tier 4 | Blogs, small outlets | 1x |

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Alert Configuration Guide

Google Alerts Setup

1. Go to google.com/alerts
2. Enter search query:
   "Your Company" OR "Your Product"
3. Show options:
   - How often: As-it-happens / Daily / Weekly
   - Sources: Automatic / News / Blogs / Web
   - Language: [Select]
   - Region: [Select]
   - How many: All results / Best results
4. Create alert

Recommended Alert Categories

| Category | Query Example | Frequency | |----------|---------------|-----------| | Brand mentions | "Company Name" | As-it-happens | | Product mentions | "Product Name" | Daily | | Executive mentions | "CEO Name" | Weekly | | Competitor news | "Competitor" AND launch | Daily | | Industry trends | [industry] AND "trends 2025" | Weekly | | Negative monitoring | "Company Name" AND (problem OR issue OR complaint) | As-it-happens |

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Output Format: Monitoring Strategy

# News Monitoring Strategy: [Topic/Brand]

**Prepared**: [Date]
**Review Cycle**: [Quarterly]

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## Monitoring Objectives

1. [Objective 1]
2. [Objective 2]
3. [Objective 3]

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## Keyword Strategy

### Primary Keywords

[keyword 1] [keyword 2] "[exact phrase]"

### Boolean Queries

**Brand Monitoring**:

"Company Name" OR "Product Name" OR @handle

**Competitor Tracking**:

("Competitor A" OR "Competitor B") AND (funding OR launch OR partnership)

**Industry News**:

[industry] AND (trends OR innovation OR market)

### Exclusion Terms

NOT (jobs OR careers OR hiring)

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## Source Matrix

| Category | Sources | Priority |
|----------|---------|----------|
| Tier 1 News | [List] | High |
| Industry | [List] | High |
| Tech | [List] | Medium |
| Social | [List] | Medium |
| Blogs | [List] | Low |

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## Tool Configuration

### Primary Tool: [Tool Name]
- Setup instructions
- Query configuration
- Alert settings

### Secondary Tools
- [Tool 2]: [Purpose]
- [Tool 3]: [Purpose]

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## Workflow

### Daily
1. Review real-time alerts
2. Triage by priority
3. Flag for action

### Weekly
1. Compile digest
2. Analyze trends
3. Share with stakeholders

### Monthly
1. Full analysis report
2. Strategy review
3. Keyword refinement

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## Distribution

| Stakeholder | Content | Frequency |
|-------------|---------|-----------|
| Executives | Summary | Weekly |
| PR Team | Full digest | Daily |
| Marketing | Competitor intel | Weekly |
| Sales | Battle card updates | As needed |

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## Success Metrics

1. Coverage volume vs baseline
2. Share of voice vs competitors
3. Sentiment ratio improvement
4. Response time to mentions

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Tips for Better Results

1. Be specific about what you want to monitor
2. Prioritize sources based on relevance
3. Use Boolean operators to reduce noise
4. Set appropriate frequency - not everything needs real-time
5. Review and refine keywords regularly
6. Establish escalation criteria for urgent mentions

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Limitations

• Cannot execute actual monitoring
• Cannot access real-time news
• Cannot access paywalled sources
• Cannot provide breaking news
• Strategy needs manual implementation

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Built by the Claude Office Skills community. Contributions welcome!